07/07/2014 Today’s Meditation: Proverb 4:20-27 Bible on Wealth – Divine Provisions for Your Prosperity 4 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life Pro 4:23. For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. Eat and drink! he says to you, But his heart is not with you Pro 23:7. The journeys to both poverty and wealth begin in the heart. Poverty is first and foremost a heart condition before it becomes a life experience. No man can be rich who carries a poor heart. The mentality that brings wealth is far different from that which secures poverty. When a man’s heart is conditioned consciously or unconsciously towards poverty, the man will be poor no matter the type of job he does. Many children of God are painfully carriers of hearts that are strongly inclined towards poverty. Despite their unending prayers and serious religious activities, they still wallow in poverty. When a poor man changes his poor mind, his poor life will change accordingly. When a man carries a poverty inclined heart, there are certain things that will be evident in his life: 1. He will have a consumer’s mentality. For a man to be rich, he must have a producer’s mindset. He must think in terms of what to contribute to make the life of others better rather than what he will take from others. Rich people are contributors, they produce; they give out. It is in the process of producing that men gather to build them. Men don’t give any man money because of the handsome or beautiful face; they give you money for what you are producing. 2. Poor people talk about problems whereas rich people solve them. The solution to a man’s poverty problem is in the problems he is able to solve in life. The more problem a man is able to solve for others, the less problem he also will have. A poor man will go about, defining, analyzing and complaining about the problems around him; he has an active mind to see problems. But a carrier of a rich heart will see solution and or its possibility in every problem. He will stop at nothing to find a way out of difficult situation. When a man solves other men’s problems, they will in turn solve his own poverty problem. 3. A poor man collects salary but a rich man pays it. In a poor country like mine, every man is looking for salary jobs. Students are taught to come out of school to look for job. So there are more job seekers than job creators. Because jobs are fewer than those seeking for them, wages are excessively poor. It is possible for instance for you to see a graduate in my country collecting a salary of less than one hundred dollars in a month. Where will that man come about wealth? I always believe that a man is not big because he is collecting a big salary; he is big because he is paying big salaries to his workers. The trouble with salary is that, when it increases in the hand of a man, the expenses of the man will grow correspondingly to meet up with it. 4. A poor man accumulates liabilities whereas a rich man accumulates assets. Simply defined, a liability is anything that takes money away from you while an asset is anything that puts more money into your pocket. I read a statement some weeks ago that says “if you have a Landcruiser and a Landrover and you still have a Landlord, you are a fool!” I agree totally with the statement. A car is a liability except if you are using it for business purposes. The thinking of poor men is to have those things they will be servicing with money: cars, generators, gas cookers etc. A poor man will be attempting to build a house before building a business whereas a rich man builds his business before building his house. 5. A poor man spends money; a rich man saves to invest. There must be a balance between how you spend and how you save if you will actually be rich. Whereas you must not be stingy and tight-fisted, you must also not be a spendthrift (apa in Yoruba language). Many children of God are suffering from financial diarrhea; once some money gets into their hands, it has to go out immediately. Such men are permanent companions of poverty. 6. Poor man thinks of immediate gratification; rich man delays his pleasure. Pleasure and pressure are parts of every man’s life. However every man must decide the order in which they will occur in his life. If you put your pleasure first, your pressure will come later but if you put your pressure first, you will enjoy your pleasure later. 7. A poor man works for money but a rich man works to gather more experiences. When a poor man works, his attention is on his pay but a rich man will focus on how to become better in what he does. As he keeps improving himself, he increases his indispensability and also increases the value men place on him. Beloved, I can go on and on. We must understand that riches are ten percent miracle and ninety percent mindset. Change your mind and attitude from toady; ask the Lord to remove from you the poor man’s heart and put in you a rich heart. Riches are more of what is in you than what is with you. A rich man is not a man with a rich pocket but a man with a rich heart. A rich pocket without a rich heart will ultimately end in poverty but a poor pocket with a rich heart will end in great wealth. Therefore, stop looking for money; begin to develop your heart. Do not stop praying until your heart is a correct one strongly fortified by the Spirit of God. May help from above that are far better than those from abroad locate you this week in Jesus name. The Lord will give you the right heart and help you to be the best He has created you to be in Jesus name. Have a great week ahead; it is well with you.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Jul 2014 09:42:21 +0000